Will The President Of Mexico Put Cannabis On The Ballot In 2021?
At the start of the week, the president of Mexico spoke on how his administration will uphold the Supreme Court’s decision. Which would be to invalidate marijuana prohibition. However, he would consider putting other legislation on the ballot. But only if the other form of cannabis legislation does not reach particular goals.
The president of Mexico mentioned some things during a news conference. He said “of course we are going to respect what the judicial power has decided, and we are going to evaluate, we are going to see what effects it has,”. Which was taken from a translation.
“If we see that it does not help—that it is not good for the country, that it is not good for facing the serious problem of drug addiction, that it is not good for stopping violence—then we would act,” he said.
Legislators have had lots of time to take action ever since the court made its decision back in 2018. The ruling was Mexico’s prohibition on personal cannabis possession and cultivation of cannabis was unconstitutional. Yet Mexico’s lawmakers were allowed many extensions to enact a policy change. However, Congress was not able to complete the job done by the April deadline.
“There was no consensus because there are two visions [in the government], as in the country,” the president said on Tuesday.
“This should not surprise us because the government represents the people and we have to collect the opinions, the feelings of all the people,” he said, adding that the “people always have to have the reins of power in their hands, and that is what participatory democracy is for.”
Legal Cannabis In Mexico Is One Step Closer
The resulting inaction pushed authorities to hold a vote on a general declaration of unconstitutionality next week. A bulk of people are in favor to end criminalization. Although the Ministry of Health will still have some regulatory power with regard to authorizing personal cultivation.
From the view of the president of Mexico, it’s now a waiting game to better evaluate how the bigger part of the unregulated market. Mainly how it will run and whether a voter referendum may be required.
“It means collecting the feelings of the people, the points of view of all and seeing how this is developing—measure how this measure going to be applied, what effects is this measure going to have in practice,” he said. “If we see that, instead of helping, it hurts, we would propose a change. I would send, according to my faculties, a bill.”
“I think we could have results in a short time. We will evaluate what happens,” he added. “That is why I am in favor of participatory democracy. These issues—if well-informed, if well-organized, debates, listening to all the points of view of specialists, of citizens, young people, everyone, after listening to everyone—a consultation is applied and so it is decided. This is leading by obeying.”
It’s not transparent what precisely the president is suggesting he would put before voters. Particularly if the revised legalization does not obtain primary objectives. For example stuff like decreasing violence or lowering addiction. Yet he hasn’t spoken against cannabis legalization, and it stands to reason that he’s signaling that a referendum could be centered around approving regulations. Mainly for those that build upon a legal system. That’s specifically what legislators have been striving towards, and advocates have been pushing for, over the past three years.
Last Thoughts On Legal Cannabis In Mexico
That’s where the circumstances stood for a while as the court’s latest April 30 deadline neared. There was an expectation that the Senate would again ask the court for an extension. However, that did not take place. Instead, lawmakers have begun floating the idea of holding a special legislative session in order to get the job done this year.
After the Chamber of Deputies approved the Senate-passed legalization bill, senators said that the revised proposal was critically internally conflicted—on provisions concerning legal possession limits, the definition of hemp, and other issues—and lawmakers themselves could be subject to criminal liability if it went into effect as drafted. 
But Senate Majority Leader Ricardo Monreal Avila said in April that if the court were to make a declaration of unconstitutionality before a measure to regulate cannabis was approved, it would result in “chaos.” He said on Monday, though, that “the court has made a decision we must observe and respect.”
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What’s Next For Legal Cannabis In Mexico
But he said there are “elements of uncertainty” that lawmakers “have to attend to in the coming days and weeks.”
“I will meet with the parliamentary groups and their coordinators and start working on legislation…in which we can build it with consensus in a broad way [while] also listening to society,” Monreal said. “That is our obligation, and we are not going to renounce it.”
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In other words, there is consensus between the president and Senate leadership that the court’s ruling will stand. At least in the interim as lawmakers review its impacts and consider further reforms. Sen. Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar of the ruling MORENA party said in April that “at this time, it is important to legislate in the terms that are presented to us” and then consider additional revisions to cannabis laws through subsequent bills. That’s been the position many legalization advocates have taken as well, urging lawmakers to pass an imperfect bill immediately and then work on fixing it later.
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